Observe and behold...

Picture an old man (Gandalf if you like), halfway through 70 years of age, sitting in a small hut overlooking a lake and surrounded by weathered rocks. From that somewhat vantage point, he'd see the mountains miles to the north. Here, he'd be lulled by the chirps of a flock of swiftlets and the faint sound of a crashing waterfall. The walking stick lay nearby, the carvings on the handle nearly smoothed - a parallel of the man's journey in life. Long and hard with valuable experience.

He sipped his tea. The hot water stung his mouth, it was good. He recalled the parting almost a decade ago. But they promised to be back to see him. Today is the day. He picked up a stack of papers, crudely fashioned into a book by stringing the pages together. It contained many things the old man saw all his life. He noticed the pages are fast running out.

He began grinding the ink stick on the ink stone. I have the Four Treasures of the Study ready, he said to himself whilst shifting his focus from the ink stick and the ink stone to the brush and the stack of papers.

He began writing, from the top down, on one of the pages to test the consistency of the ink:

文
房
四
寶

(Four Treasures of the Study)

Good. Old habit of the man to try out newly-prepared ink. Now, he'll write what he observed since he came here a week ago. The various trees and especially the bamboo gave him a very good idea. The leaves falling from the branches are the most gracious - spiralling down gently. The mirror of my life, thought the old man. This one's about my sons, for my sons. He wrote:

落
葉
歸
根

(Falling leaves return to their roots)

He let down his ivory-stalked brush and finished the tea. I'll lie down for a while. The boatman will ferry my sons here soon and I'll be able to see them again, to pass them the book. He closed his eyes, smiling. The breeze continues to blow gently; swirling and gathering the leaves...

Someone shared the "falling leaves" phrase with me but like all non-Mandarin speaking Chinese, they're like ancient runes to me until she elucidated the meaning to me. Well, it sounded meaningful and great to me. Which got me thinking: These sayings are derived from observations; be it nature or otherwise and often, it's profound and exude some "wise-full-of-wisdom" aura to me. Idioms we call them and though I may not understand them at first, once the explanations follow then these four-character idioms or Chengyu really applies.

We're so busy now. No time for all these. No time to observe things in life and to write them down. If I were lazy, I wouldn't know that some names like Beijing, Nanjing, and Yunnan are derived from their location and geography. Or that Heilongqiang is derived from the mythical dragon. Funny or ridiculous you may think of these folks but I find them interesting.

So, take time and look around. You may well come up with a saying of yours. No, no prize for What goes up must come down. Good day!